Hi Pregame community!
Today's NBA Card is big and I've just inserted one play on my pacakge for today.
I'm currently working on the rest of the card right now. For now, here are some previews for some of today's games:
New Jersey @ Dallas
The Nets lost yesterday against the
Rockets by 26 points and this was the third consecutive big loss for
them (remember that they lost by 17 points in Orlando and by 15 points
against the Spurs). The Rockets outmuscled the Nets in every stat, my
attention goes to the boards where the Nets were outrebounded by 30-56
and they only had 2 offensive rebounds, with no starter being able to
grab a single offensive rebound! This will be a back to back game for
the Nets, a spot where they are 8-3 ATS in this season while being road
underdogs. The Mavericks meanwhile are playing better lately by winning
7 of the last 10 games, the three losses was against Boston twice and
in Utah against the Jazz and some of the wins were against quality
teams like Orlando, Miami or Portland. This is a big revenge game for
them, as in December the Nets spanked them by121-97 at home with former
Mavs player Devin Harris scoring 41 points! Harris had a tough night
yesterday, but he will be looking to make a bounce back game tonight.
The Mavs haven't been a great team at home this season (8-17 ATS), but
this game is special for them.
Denver @ Philadelphia
The Sixers lost yesterday
against the Pacers, in a game that we expected them to be more
competitive; they trailed by many as 20 points and missed 56 field
goals. Today they will return at home and face the red hot Denver
Nuggets' team. The Sixers are 14-5 L19 games and most of the wins of
that run were at home where they defeated innumerous top teams like the
Spurs, Blazers, Heat or the Suns. Naturally they will play better
today, but the Nuggets impressed anyone just before the all star break
with the back to back wins in Miami and in Orlando. The most amazing
fact is that they only allowed 82 and 73 points in those games! This is
the second game between these teams and in the first one, the Nuggets
trailed as many as 17 points just to rallied back in the fourth
quarter.
Orlando @ New Orleans
Dwight Howard made the best
game of his career last night against the Bobcats with 45 points, 19
rebounds and 8 blocks, wow! The Magic are struggling right now in the
perimeter and Howard was the reliable option in that game, clearly it
wasn't a bad idea, as Howard can dominate the paint. The Magic had a
much needed win after an awful exhibition in the previous contest
against Denver and they will travel today to New Orleans to face the
Hornets. I have to remember that the Magic are 5-0 ATS in back to back
games played on the road this season. Meanwhile the Hornets won a tough
game in Oklahoma City in a game that they had an early lead. Tyson
Chandler is gone as the Hornets traded him to OKC for Joe Smith and
Chris Wilcox. The Hornets are a tough team to beat at home, but lately
they had some tough losses at home: Boston, Chicago, Portland and
Golden State.
Minnesota @ Miami
For this game, we will see the
new look of the Miami Heat after the trade with the Raptors that send
Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon to Miami. The first look of the trade
is that it is great for the Heat, after all the Heat lacked one big man
down the post to do the job that Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire can't
do: rebounding, blocking and be an offensive threat. The key question
is to find how much time this team will need to be working properly?
Tonight they will face the Wolves who are coming from a loss in
Washington last night. Without Al Jefferson, everything looks tough for
this team and they lost their last 5 games (0-5 ATS as well) and 8 of
the last 9 games. They are a young team without confidence and the Heat
can take advantage from it.
Chicago @ Milwaukee
Can somebody explain me why
in the hell the Bulls are favorites on the road against a red hot
Milwaukee team? We are talking about a team that just beat the Rockets,
the Pacers and the Pistons in the last 3 games and even though they won
against a not so good team of the Pistons, the fact is that they won
the game with authority. I know this is a back to back game for the
Bucks, but they have the momentum on their side. The Bulls once again
are involved with some trade rumors and this can hurt the team focus
and chemistry. Recently they finished a strong west road trip, but they
were underdogs.
Cleveland @ Toronto
Despite having one of the
best records in the league, the Cavs are linked to several trade rumors
involving Stoudemire, Bosh, Jamison or Camby. Can this be a distraction
for the team? They went to the all star break in a good mood after
spanking the Suns at home, but on the road they aren't consistent
lately: 4-9 ATS L13 road games. Shawn Marion will play the first game
with a Raptors uniform and it will be interesting to watch the Raptors
new version, remember that Chris Bosh is questionable and he could be
the key for this game, as the Raptors without Jermaine O'Neal need a
big man down the post to compete against the powerful frontcourt of the
Cavs. The Raptors won back to back games just before the all star break
and their last win against the Spurs was really impressive!
Indiana @ Charlotte
The Pacers had a quality win
against a quality team; the problem is their next game! Already in this
season, we saw the Pacers won games against top teams just to fall
short in the next game against beatable teams. The last time this
happened the Pacers beat at home the Magic just to lose the next game
in Washington, so what will happen today? The Bobcats had a mad loss
last night in Orlando. If Raja Bell didn't miss one late free throw we
would be taking in here about a huge upset win for them. They are a
hungry team tonight, looking for a bounce back. Gerald Wallace and Raja
Bell returned in that game and the Bobcats have the material to make a
good run in this second half of the season.
FREE PICK:
Orlando Magic @ New Orleans Hornets
This is the
biggest game of the night and a good matchup in perspective. Both teams
played yesterday and despite winning their games, both teams had a
tough night: Orlando beat the Bobcats only after overtime and they
needed a late trey of J.J Redick to send the game to overtime and the
Hornets needed a late shot from Chris Paul to beat the Thunder.
Without Tyson Chandler, the Hornets will have some problems down
the post and this isn't a good time to face the Magic, as Dwight Howard
had a monster game last night. However I think this is not the key for
this game and I'll explain why. The Magic are struggling right now from
the perimeter, in the last 3 games they shoot 6-20, 9-31 and 9-24
behind the arc. We are talking about 30%, 29% and 37 % from a team who
need badly to make a huge number of treys to be competitive. Because
they are failing right now they went to Dwight Howard yesterday and the
Superman finished the game with 45 points for a 16-23 FG and 19
rebounds. Despite the big night from Howard, the Magic almost lost the
game against the?.Bobcats! Now the challenge will be very different,
probable Howard will have big numbers, but this isn't enough for the
Magic to beat top teams.
Meanwhile the Hornets aren't the same dominant team like they were
last season. However Chris Paul continues to dominate down the stretch
and the biggest mismatch for this game will be CP3 vs Anthony Johnson.
Johnson granted don't have the speed to stop Chris Paul and the Magic
will be torched tonight. Even Raymond Felton who isn't a good shooter
managed to finish last game with 22 points (10-21 from the field), 10
rebounds and 5 assists. Imagine what Chris Paul can do tonight?
This is a big revenge game for the Hornets. I remember that the
Magic spanked the Hornets at home on Christmas in a National TV game.
The Magic already led 61-31 at halftime in that game and the Hornets
have some business to handle tonight. Remember that they are 15-4 ATS
in home games revenging a same season loss against an opponent over the
last 2 seasons and they have great chances to win this game against a
top team like the Magic who aren't playing at their best lately.
SINGLE DIME PLAY on New Orleans Hornets (-1,5)
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